Darla tells Thorne how grateful she is to have him in her life.

Thorne and Darla are in their bedroom, where Thorne reflects on Helen's death. He can't help but think about how he almost lost his mother, especially since Gabriela lost her's in the accident. Darla says they can help Gaby. Still, Thorne thinks, life is so fleeting; he could lose his mother, or Darla or even Alexandria, so he never wants to take anything for granted. Darla says he doesn't; she's grateful to have him, especially when she compares their life to Ridge and Brooke, who always seem to be in crisis. But they always make up, Thorne says. Until now, Darla says. Thorne says that it still doesn't make sense to him; the Ridge he knows would never run from a problem. Then where is he? Darla asks. Thorne's not sure, but he's confident that Ridge has a good reason to stay away. Darla admires how he defends his brother, despite their recent differences; it just reminds her how lucky she is to be married to him. He says he's the lucky one, since he has her support. But who will support Brooke? Darla wonders.

Thorne wonders where Ridge could be.

After seeing how quickly things can change, Thorne doesn't want to miss an opportunity to show his wife how much he loves her. She asks if that's a promise; he says it is and kisses her. Just then, Alexandria cries out; Thorne says he'll go to her, but Darla says she'll do it, as she wants him to save his strength for when she gets back. She makes him promise not to worry about Ridge or Brooke while she's gone. When she returns, she tells him that Alexandria had a bad dream about her parents being gone. She assured their baby that she and Thorne would always be there for her and told her to go back to sleep, but it reminded her of how Ridge should be home for his kids. Thorne points out how much Ridge loves Brooke and his kids. They're the center of Ridge's world, Darla agrees. Then what could be keeping Ridge away? Thorne asks.

Wait... that's not Brooke!

In Venice, Morgan invites the blonde woman in, calling her Brooke. Ridge greets the woman - but when she turns to face him, we see it's not Brooke at all. Faux Brooke tells Ridge she was sorry to hear about his concussion from Morgan, but that doesn't change the fact that their relationship is dead. Ridge wonders how that can be and asks what he did to her. She says he's lucky not to remember; maybe his guilt caused him to forget the things he ruined. Ridge guesses from “Brooke's” tone that he did something to hurt her badly and apologizes, but she tells him to forget it, just like she already has!

Ridge is confused by what “faux Brooke” tells him.

Ridge doesn't believe Faux Brooke, since he still feels a connection to her. She tells him that he's wrong and begs him to let her go. What about their kids? Ridge asks. Faux Brooke pauses and looks to Morgan before telling Ridge that they don't have any kids; that's another thing they could never agree on. She reaches onto her finger, takes off “her” wedding ring and hands it to Ridge. She tells him to keep it; she doesn't want it, and he's better off with Morgan anyway. From the way she's talking, Ridge can't believe that they were ever married. Faux Brooke tells him she only came to help him remember, because he had a concussion. But if he won't remember, then maybe it's best that she leaves him with Morgan, who could always forgive him in ways she never could: She bids Ridge good-bye, forever, and leaves. Morgan tells him he's better off without Brooke. Ridge says she warned him, but he didn't listen. He doesn't see how he could have ever married that woman, since he felt absolutely nothing for her.

Morgan thinks about Ridge's new life - with her!

Morgan tells Ridge not to be so hard on himself; she thinks the important thing is that he knows the truth now and can move on. She senses he's tired and tells him to get some rest. As Ridge heads for the bedroom. she tells him she's sorry. Once the door closes, Morgan picks up the phone and calls Faux Brooke, who says what Morgan did was cruel. She knows she owed Morgan, but she still can't believe she had to do something like that. Morgan says it had to be done and assures Faux Brooke that Ridge will thank her some day. Morgan then hangs up and says that Ridge's past is behind him now, so there's nothing stopping him from starting a new life - with her!

Brooke laments to Nick that Ridge still hasn't come home.

At Ridge's house, Brooke hears someone coming in the window and goes at the person with a fireplace poker, only to realize that it's Nick! He explains that he and Bridget dined by the pool and he forgot his keys. He didn't want to wake anybody, so he tried to slip in. He's sorry for startling her. He asks if she's OK. She says she's glad he's here. She hasn't slept too well since Ridge has been missing, especially since she's been up every night trying to figure out what to tell the kids about Ridge. Nick says he knows it's tough and reminds her that he's here for them. He jokes that he could be Hope's goofy chauffeur and fix her fun snacks while teaching her how to put a worm on a hook. Brooke thinks Hope would like that. She wishes it was that easy for her, since she keeps trying not to lose faith in Ridge. She tells Nick about Hector's earlier visit, which made her even more determined not to assume anything until she actually speaks to Ridge and hears his voice. She just wonders why Ridge hasn't come home.

Nick tells Brooke to keep the faith.

Brooke thinks about how she keeps telling Hope and R.J. that Ridge will be home soon. But what if something happened to him? she wonders. Nick tells her not to go there, but she can't help it after reading that email from Ridge. Nick agrees that the email didn't sound like Ridge and wonders if Ridge just needs time to get his head together. Brooke is sure it's more than that, since Ridge would never hurt his family. She starts to cry; Nick puts his arms around her and tells her it's OK. Brooke sobs that feelings like the ones she and Ridge share don't just go away. And Ridge knows that, Nick assures her. Then he needs to come home, Brooke says. She feels like Ridge is slipping away. Nick reminds her that relationships, like the seas, sometimes get stormy, and the trick is to stand up to the storm when that happens. He thinks she and Ridge need to draw on their feelings for each other to weather this storm. He's sure Ridge would never throw their life together away.